


A Councilor's Work is Never Done

by Khthon



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassination Attempt(s), Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Gen, Past Relationship(s), Sith Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2020-05-13 01:00:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19240636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khthon/pseuds/Khthon
Summary: Little stories and various events that happen to a dark councilor and those closest to her.





	1. Hunting Assassins can be Romantic

**Author's Note:**

> Taking some liberties with canon in this.
> 
> I, Khthon, do not consent to this work or any of my work being uploaded or displayed through third party apps and websites. If you are viewing this work through an app that makes money from advertisements, please close the app and view my work for free on the original Ao3 page.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost being assassinated during a private moment with your old flame can be a real downer for romance.  
> ...Unless you and your old flame are sith capable of hunting down your attackers.

“How’s my cute little Mern been, Acina?” Viyal started without preamble as they trotted towards a camp. Hopefully the assassins’ camp so they could put an end to this farce of an attempt.

“Beg pardon?” Acina spoke as her mind drew a blank. She recognized the word; somewhat hard not to considering it’s a republic letter, but she couldn’t place _why_ Viyal was asking about 'her' Mern.  
“My tuk’ata? You met her while I was helping you with the seeds.” The fondness in Viyal’s voice was the reminder Acina needed. “She would often interrupt our…meetings when you came to visit my apartment.”

“Oh…her.” Acina said biting back a grimace, remembering the beast that would often interrupt their talks, various meetings, and time in bed. Terrible thing, Acina never understood why her one time…friend was so attached to the mongrel. “Horrid beast, I do not know how but she tracked me down while I was in hiding. Speaking of which…”

Acina trailed off as she came to a stop and shot a glare at her friend and fellow sith turned alliance leader: Viyal’raveiv.  
“Why did I have to find out after your “death” that I became her new owner?”

“You took her in!?” Viyal’s surprise was rather evident on her red and black face; it also forced her to a stop as she processed what Acina told her. Viyal had honestly expected her tuk’ata to get “lost” and/or killed by mynocks disguised as acolytes picked over her sphere. Kriffing ingrates.

Smirking at the site of Viyal being confounded, Acina resumed their trek. The stumbling she heard behind her got a grin to slip out of her stony mask before Acina shoved it back down.  
“Of course. As I said, the beast tracked me down while I was in hiding. Such determination deserves praise and a reward.”

Viyal’s keening cackle would’ve filled the silence between them if the sounds of droids approaching didn’t fill it first. Drawing her saber Acina prepared for the worst, and by the sound of Viyal’s power crackling in the air, her friend was ready.

-

It was indeed the worst. It wasn’t just droids, the GenoHaradan camp, and the person(s) behind this attempt the lost Sith found but they also found an assassin’s ship; a ship that promptly attacked them, causing them to seek shelter in a nearby tomb. Acina chuckled to herself as Viyal went on and on, describing what she was going to do to Saresh, the remaining assassins, and likely Lorman for what they were putting Acina and her through. Privately, Acina felt Viyal was spot on about Lorman. He had been acting rather…uppity for quite a while, and it didn’t take much surveillance for evidence to pile up against him. Saresh would hardly need to persuade him into betraying the Empire. This would be the perfect chance to remove the worm while serving as yet another example about how she deals with betrayal. Not just betrayals to her person but betrayals to the Empire; the years following the Treaty of Coruscant caused some of the more arrogant Sith to be incredibly brash and it was time to correct that.

“Viyal, calm yourself. Compared to previous attempts on my life, this is much more exciting.” It was true. The restructured Imperial Intelligence, or as most of the galactic organizations know it: ‘Sith Intelligence,’ did much in the way of thwarting the various attempts on her life in the early years of her reign. Years that she hoped were still in the process of happening, but they had slowed to a very odd pace ever since Vowrawn came out from hiding. If Acina had any sort of rapport with the Force than it would be a reasonable assumption to say Vowrawn had something to do with it. The slew of pathetic attacks from upstarts “incensed” by her hardened attitude regarding backstabbing; the entire thing was just missing his signature. He could have, at least, talked to her about it like the agreement they had reached after Marr and Viyal went missing.

“Yeah and how many of the karking fools force you to go through an already looted tomb?” Viyal exhaled a breath before becoming seemingly still for a few seconds. Acina can recognize a centering of one’s self when she sees it, but the very minute force pulse Viyal sent out caught her attention. It was horribly subtle, easily obscured by the residual dark side energy within the tomb and if Acina wasn’t looking at her friend she likely would’ve missed it came from Viyal.

“How many attempts have there been?” The question snapped Acina’s attention front and center as she found herself looking into Viyal’s hardened eyes. _Odd._ Motioning to her left Acina began to make her way through the tomb, Viyal trailing behind, as she mulled over the question.

On its own the question was rather obvious, and neutral, but Acina caught an undercurrent of concern in Viyal’s question. If it was anyone else or in any other situation, Acina would’ve blown the question off. Alas, it wasn’t from anyone else; it was from Viyal’raviev: deceased Dark Council member, peer to the deceased Darth Marr, fellow dark lord of the Sith and an old friend that she privately mourned. Acina could admit that much and could also admit she felt oddly warmed by Viyal’s concern. It reminded her of the…correspondence they kept following the seeds of rage theft and the undercurrent of something that would often tinge their frequent holocalls, dinners, and meetings.

An undercurrent that began to resurface from the little time she spent around her friend and it bothered her terribly.  That didn’t stop Acina from shoving those thoughts aside because now wasn’t the best time to search the depth of her feelings or realizing the concern she was hearing was actually sincere. Its presence was touching, but Acina didn’t need it. The attempts on her life were minor inconveniences compared to the threat of Zakuul and that blasted throne.  
  
“This counts as…hrm, the eleventh attempt-I think-on my life after becoming Empress.” Acina’s tone was laced with triviality and a detachment that had it coming across as if she talking about the weather. It was beneath her, just like being bothered by the weather, though there were times they inconvenienced her enough that Acina had to resist the urge to strangle Vowrawn sometimes. “The Empire’s Wrath would have a better estimate if you are curious Viyal and while we’re on the topic, I need to thank you. You protected me during one of those attempts.”

Now that caused a rather interesting expression to worm its way onto Viyal’s face as the cogs in her mind turned; a curious quirk of a non-existent brow as she attempted to discern how she might’ve indirectly protected Acina while she was missing.

“I don’t think I’ve meddled in Sith acitivities in a while, you’re gonna have to refresh my memory.” The smug smile on Acina’s face did little to provide answers; though Viyal got the feeling her friend was having her on.  
“My apologies, it was actually Mern that protected me. However I have thanked her terribleness enough since then, that you deserve some of the credit.”  Acina’s tone remained light though her brow creased ever so slightly as she felt another barely there force pulse as the two stepped around traps;  hardly mattered though, since Viyal apparently caught the “scent” of something in this looted tomb and was now on the search for some sort of relic.

“Oh yeah? Bet you warmed up to her after that, huh.”  
“I will…admit that the event caused me to re-examine how useful she could be.”  
“I bet. So thanks for taking her in, although I would like to know how my girl is.”  
"She is well. Bigger than one would expect.” Bigger than normal tuk'atas that's for sure. Much bigger, Acina’s relatively sure Viyal would be dwarfed by her Tuk’ata considering the beast’s current stature. Mern still amazed Acina with her size whenever she stood guard besides the throne.

“Good. I want to see my little girl after we deal with these hutt-loving ingrates; might even take her off your hands since you don’t want her.” Viyal figured six years of unexpected pet sitting was more than enough, and any longer would likely be untoward since they hadn’t really talked about their…friendship.  
“Now I never said you could have her back,” Acina’s tone was a touch coyer than Viyal expected considering the topic, “although it might be hard to find her. Mern’s rather fond of…walks in the surrounding jungles. Initially, when I first ascended to the throne, she would just sneak out and back in but as she got older she started to get caught so I had to tell the guards it was okay. Last I saw her; Mern was heading out for a walk. That was a two nights ago.”

“Ah. That explains why she didn’t tackle me when I entered the Citadel.” It also explained why Viyal couldn’t sense her tuk’ata’s presence either.

They continued on through the tomb in content silence as they looked for a would-be relic and an exit. Acina also noted that the pulses her friend put out began to resemble something of a steady interval; said pulses also began to more readily prick at Acina’s senses.  Of course, right when she started to get concerned they had to come across the relic causing Viyal to scream through gritted teeth upon looking at it. A reaction that baffled Acina: was it not what Viyal expected? Her friend could be a little strange, although considering she used to lead the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge it’s likely that she knows what the item was. Not like being a little strange was a councilor requirement or anything.

“Is it not to your liking?” Acina idly questioned as she shifted her weight from foot to foot while Viyal proceeded to rip the relic, actually a Sith amulet upon closer inspection, through the air from its pedestal into her waiting hands.  
“It’s not. It felt like something much more but it’s a simple force recursion talisman.” Viyal huffed in exacerbation as she looked over the runes on said amulet when something caused her to pull out an unusually small knife; a knife closer to being a scalpel than something for combat.  “Although…considering the placement of the runes, it wasn’t meant to be such a thing.”

Now that caught Acina’s attention, along with the implication of said statement, and it made her wonder what exactly Viyal could infer from the placement. It didn’t need much comment but the Empire’s technology, engineering, and mechanical aspects interested Acina far more than mysticism but that didn’t stop her from having to be aware. Can’t very well be an Empress if one can’t ward off all manner of plots against her life, now can she?

“Any idea on what it was supposed to be?” Maybe it’d be something useful and/or helpful because a force battery wouldn’t be of much use to them in their current situation.

“Not a one, though I’d have to look up whose tomb this is supposed to be to get something of an idea,” Viyal remarked as she continued carving alterations into the amulet with practiced ease befitting the old head of ancient knowledge. “Not exactly the first instance of its kind either, the IRS and those within my sphere came across similar objects countless times. Usually it was done to effectively prevent a Sith talisman from becoming some sort of an unintentional explosive.”

“I see.” Acina’s curt remark was accompanied by her silently moving a meter or two back away from her friend, and out of the alcove they had been in, before asking a prudent question. “So what are you changing it to now?”

“What it would’ve been on its own: a bomb.” Viyal smiled as she took a moment to look to the side and meet Acina’s gaze. A smile that had far too many teeth to be benign and if Acina hadn’t seen a similar look on her face after realizing some grand idea would work, she’d be far more worried about her life than she currently was. “However, the bomb will have some improvements from yours truly. Those assassins won’t know what hit them.”

“Quite, hopefully it is not as contagious as your last bomb.” Acina didn’t need a reminder of just what her friend could do given time against an enemy that infuriated her. The remains and what’s known of the decay process were kept for study by the Imperial Medical corps. Mostly as another example of what to do should one be poisoned by the dark side, and whether or not such things could be excised from a system without direct Force intervention. Several medics apparently thanked the Force that Viyal's love of the Empire led to her changing how her alchemical pathogen interacted with organic materials, effectively nullifying its ability to spread and infect.

“Nothing quite as contagious as that, no,” Viyal murmured as she finished up her alterations on the amulet before putting the knife and the amulet into a pouch, “Just a simple lightning bomb that won’t activate until I want it to…more like a grenade now that I think of it, shall we continue our search or do you feel up to blasting our way out?”

Acina had to swallow a laugh at her friend’s words as she motioned to the ramp down. “Let us search a bit more and if we haven’t found anything in the next hour, we can start blasting our way out.”

-  
Their search continued to bear no fruit, not like Acina’s frustration was getting worse with each failed exit they found, and on top of that the ever so subtle pulse Viyal gave out resumed it’s rather steady interval with new consequences. The biggest one being that Acina didn’t even have to feel for it anymore, not when it turned Viyal into a beacon in the force, which likely wasn’t good for their continued survival. Acina wasn’t putting anything past these GenoHaradan assassins, so it stood to reason that any sort of force use could stand out to them especially with the way the tomb’s miasma seemed to worsen. On top of those issues, Viyal's continued pulses also had the side effect of passively levitating the debris, pottery shards, and rocks that littered the paths they’re using.

“Viyal.” Acina’s voice was sharp as she got her friend’s attention. She had felt something stir within their vicinity, as if it was reacting to her friend’s pulses, and Acina couldn’t easily tell if the thing that reacted was in the tomb or outside it. “Enough, we do not need to awaken anything while the assassins are still expecting us.”

“Mmm true. It’s a good thing we’re close to an exit then.” Viyal hummed her agreement as she began to idly pull on her nails, a sure sign as any that she was becoming bored with this whole venture they were forced into. Acina had reached that point when they stumbled upon the Sith amulet and as time dragged on, it just worsened her frustrations.

“Quite.”

It took them a bit longer to stumble upon the exit Viyal had mentioned and, of course, the assassins were waiting for them. Along with that fool Lorman…he definitely signed his death warrant with this. Besides, one-or rather, most of his underlings were better suited for his position than he was. After throwing out some platitudes to see how committed Lorman was to this insane plan of his, Acina met Viyal’s gaze as the GenoHaradan leader said something about fulfilling Saresh’s orders to the letter. Villainous babble is terribly trite in Acina’s opinion, and at her friend’s subtle nod, she reached out and began to choke the nearest assassin while Viyal tossed the amulet at them.

“Plant your feet.”

Acina expected a few things regarding the amulet her friend made alterations to. A blast of force lightning going out in a specific radius was the most obvious one, maybe some sort of alteration that turned said amulet into a lightning coil for a little while or, hells, even just a concussive blast that used the amulet as shrapnel in the blast. She certainly wasn’t expecting to resist a force pull centered on the amulet, which had the unfortunate side effect of removing the choking assassin’s body from their head that also caught the other assassins in its grasp before letting out a cacophonous clap of thunder as lightning arced between the four bodies. The way some of them were screaming, Viyal’s little amulet-turned-grenade likely killed one or two. Painfully.

Well…that just quickened things a great deal. It also may have inspired Acina somewhat; the idea of a gravity pulse acting as a force pull in a grenade before exploding had fascinating applications. However, Acina didn’t have much time to analyze it further as the remaining GenoHaradan recovered from her friend’s surprise attack.

-

Surprise surprise, the remaining assassin put up little challenge to their combined might. It wasn’t even a good work out, not like the one Acina could get sparring with her imperial guard. So it took Acina and Viyal precious little time to round on Lorman, who happened to be cowering behind a statue. Apparently the sniveling worm found his spine as they neared, though that didn’t stop a pebble from suspiciously rising into the air before striking Lorman across his face as he neared with a communicator in hand.

Struck hard enough to draw blood it did.

“Back! Another move like that and your friends that I have hostage will die.” Lorman barked out as the two sith came to a stop in front of him in the middle of the room.  
  
 _“Is he serious?”_ Viyal quietly asked in the old tongue, apparently her friend had worked on her enunciation and pronunciation while away. Viyal’s sith sounded much better to Acina’s ear.  
 _“Apparently so, he is in for a surprise.”_ Acina replied just as quietly as she kept her eyes on the traitor as he contacted more traitors that were keeping Viyal’s lieutenants “hostage”.  A fool notion, in and of itself, considering one was a Sith and the other might as well be the Republic’s very own attempt at a ghost. Not as good as the ghost that contacted Acina, naturally, but still credit where it’s due.

“…Let me speak to the prisoners.” Oh apparently Lorman actually put some effort into this. Not much since while Lorman glanced to  Acina and Viyal, as if to sneer in victory, one of Viyal’s lieutenant came into view as they stepped over the last traitor’s body.

“Oh, hello, Lorman.” Lana crooned upon seeing the three of them at the other of the call.  
“This is who you sent to capture us? I’m a little offended.” Theron’s incredulous voice came over the call next and as Viyal took center stage, so to speak, Acina kept an eye on the traitor as he began to look more and more flighty with each passing second.

“Sounds like you two had some fun,” Viyal said as she took in Lana’s form. None the worse for wear from what she could tell.  
“They weren’t really worth the effort. It’s good to hear your voice” It was after Lana’s statement that Lorman tried to sneak away. Naturally this failed, what with Acina watching him. Oh no, she wasn’t about to let a traitor like that escape. Just a bit of force usage, and Lorman found himself suspended off the ground as he began to lightly choke.  
“I knew you weren’t dead, never doubted it for a second.” Theron remarked as he stepped into view to get a look at Viyal. It minutely amazed Acina that her friend could get such a wide range of people following her.

“Naturally, it takes more than a shuttle crash and some frang-headed GenoHaradans to turn my old bones to dust. I’m sure some of the alliance will be disappointed I survived.” Viyal’s joviality wasn’t surprising to Acina, whenever she talked about surviving something that should’ve killed her there was humor. The reference to her age on the other hand was. Acina always forgot her friend has about ten years on her.

“They won’t be the only ones disappointed. Saresh wants the Alliance, Nox. She’s on Odessen as we speak.” Theron’s words came out crisp and cool, likely going over scenarios in his head regarding such a matter.  
“Hmm, I take it she’s not one to appreciate the Alliance’s hospitality right?” Viyal muttered, more to herself than to her lieutenants, as she weighed her options. “Alright, I’m on my way. I trust Kigan and Setta are keeping her busy, yes?”

“Yes, Admiral Ranken informed us of such when she contacted us. Shall we pass along your survival?”

“Yes, I’m sure such news will brighten Saresh’s day.” Viyal said smugly before ending the call and turning to Lorman. Just in time for Acina, Viyal, and Lorman to feel the room shake as _**something**_ collided with the exit’s door.

Well…that was not good, and not five seconds later the room shook again.

“Well now that we are on a schedule: You are my guest, Viyal. Would you like to kill this bumbling fool or should I?” Acina said with a bit of frustration in her voice, speaking over the banging just added to the annoyance. Whatever was trying to get in the room was likely drawn by Viyal and her rotted pulses.

“Why don’t we both kill him? Seems only fair.” Viyal’s words crawled out of her mouth like a hunter on the prowl, the fact that she was drawing closer with every word just added to the situation. If it was any other time, Acina wouldn’t be afraid to admit she found the display…enticing.

_**GA-SHUNK** _

Faster than Acina could process, the thing banging on the door broke through and was charging right at them. They had precious seconds to decide on a course of action and as Acina dove to the side, she watched as Viyal merely turned out of its path as the thing plowed into Lorman and with a sickening crunch, Lorman’s legs fell to the ground.

Needless to say, his screams soon filled the room as the beast that removed his torso from his legs took several large chomps before cleaving his spine in two and swallowing what remained of him. Rising to her feet, Acina let out a huff as she finally realized just _what_ this beast was…Viyal seemed to realize it as well.

“Oh my cute little Mern, look how big you are! Mummy can’t believe how big you’ve gotten. How’d you get so big?” Viyal spoke as if to a child as she scratched the abnormally large tuk’ata behind her horns and part of her head.

 It can’t be stated enough just how large Mern had become; before Viyal’s “death” she had come up to about 170 centimeters, rather typical for a “regular” tuk’ata that hadn’t experienced any abnormalities and mutations. However, over the course of the five to six years that Viyal was away, her tuk’ata experienced a growth spurt or two and now stood as tall as a personal scout walker; a little under 3 meters the last time Acina cared to measure the beast and the appearance of stripes and something of a thin mane of hair down her spine accompanied the growth. Acina had to constantly shoot down attempts from the Sphere of Biotic Science to study Mern in-depth. Most of those Sith alchemists and scientists took “in-depth” a bit too far, and Acina had grown somewhat attached to the beast after she mauled several would-be assassins.

“Nice of your beast to join us in her typical fashion,” Acina grumbled lightheartedly as she walked to Viyal’s side and began to pet Mern’ head. As she quietly enjoyed the moment for a bit a thought occurred to her: would the assassin’s ship be big enough to hold Mern?

“It’s because she’s such a good girl! Yes she is, such a good girl, saving her Mummy and friend from that traitor.” Viyal poured on the praise as her tuk’ata licked her face in reply.

“Viyal?”  
“Yes?”  
  
“Will Mern be fine if the GenoHaradan ship is not big enough for her?” Acina said reminding Viyal of the larger concern that hung over them.

“Probably…let’s find out.” Viyal said as she began making her way to the exit while Acina and Mern trailed after her.

“It better or I’m going to have some words for Saresh about how terrible her assassins were.”

The ship was big enough to squeeze all three of them comfortably as they raced back to Kaas City, though Acina had a remaining surprise for her friend. The look on Viyal’s face was delicious when Acina told her, her old office was still intact and she should take everything from it.

“All of my acolytes and the other council members left my stuff alone? Pretty astounding if you’re not having me on, especially with Rictus wanting half the relics in that office alone.” Viyal’s grin was of amused disbelief.

“Yes well, Rictus disappeared shortly after you did and decided to never come back. The one agent he sent died rather gruesomely from some defense you placed over your office; gave your entire sphere a fright.” Acina said with a bit of mirth, she still remembers coming upon the bloodstain and desiccated husk that stood at the entrance of Viyal’s office. As if deliberately left there as a warning to anyone and everyone.

It was still there to this day.

“Your acolytes swore up and down the code about how you promised, in no uncertain terms, that taking something would have you personally crawl back from the Void to haunt the entire Citadel and kill who's responsible.”

“Yes well, I mean it. The IRS and my sphere aren’t the Dark Council’s personal treasure vaults despite Rictus’ flippant disregard of the service. The Wrath understood that, it’s why we had a Sith’s agreement when it came to archaeological sites and finds.” Viyal said impassioned. Acina could empathize with that; far too often possible technological breakthroughs would be destroyed as various Imperial Sith tore through Republic research bases. Acina would forever thank the stars that the Sith who would become the latest Empire’s Wrath alerted Imperial Intelligence and the Sphere of Technology about Project Siantide as they tore apart Taris.

That made Taris a much more valuable prize than it would-be as a stupid monument to a stupid jedi having an imbecilic fit.

“Hmm well, I would appreciate it if you gave your office a quick look over before you left.”  
“Alright, since you’re asking though it might just involve putting things in one of the vaults. I don’t believe my compatriots will keep Saresh sufficiently distracted…unless she gets cornered by Nern.” Viyal’s words caught Acina’s attention. Nern? Everything she had Imperial Intelligence dig up on the alliance made no mention of such a person.

“Who’s Nern?”  
“My hssiss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta reader.  
> I was rather put out with the lack of variety in Acina's dialogue during chapter 2 of KotET and, naturally, that needed to be corrected.  
> Now obviously to address some things if they weren't caught or obvious.  
> The relic they find: naturally changed that from the rather transparent power up to something more likely to explain it's would be use in setting. That and I felt it didn't really serve a purpose in the chapter from a story perspective and, well, Inquisitor's basically the head of the Empire's archaeology efforts so why not?  
> Admiral Ranken replaces Admiral Aygo in the alliance. Hylo, Oggorob, and Sanae are still there though.  
> All the other player classes exist and are active in some form. Only ones not indirectly or directly mentioned are Trooper, Consular, and Bounty Hunter.  
> Mern's appearance and growth is obviously abnormal, for simplicity's sake I modeled her present form off the silver medal tuk'atas you can find on Korriban just with a more reasonable looking head since those tusks on silver models are, uh, stupid while her 170cm form is like the tuk'ata companion.  
> Right, a big one. The Empire gets a hold of Project Siantide because I said so and it's a missed opportunity that there was no option for a Warrior to pass everything onto Intelligence and the Tech sphere cause it's right fucking there beyond what gets blown up. It'd also make the Imperial presence on Taris more useful beyond giving the Republic a bruise.  
> I think that's the important bits and honestly as I was writing this, I got sucked into building the au so I might write more sometime and just add onto it from the other classes' perspectives, no promises.


	2. A Strike Against Zakuul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In search of her sister, one Sith joins with a motley crew for a daring rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usual disclaimer about taking liberties with this.

_‘Do you remember the grave we landed on? The necropolis we discovered before the war, Setta?”  
‘…Yes.’  
‘We’ve stumbled into a similar predicament.’  
’How long is needed?’  
‘A few months, maybe half a year. We have some help this time.’  
‘Very well.’  
-_

It was supposed to be an easy mission… relatively speaking: rescue a prisoner of war from a fortified enemy position, deep within enemy territory; next to no support beyond what they could throw together as they cased the place and made in-roads for the mission.

It had been going rather stellar in no small part to the former head of Sith Intelligence Lana Beniko and an unusually competent mirilan named Izik that had previously worked for Intelligence. Ana didn’t see a need to push since clearly Izik was an Intelligence agent with the way she held herself, as well as how she talked. However, from what Ana witnessed while preparing for this rescue, as well as doing some legwork with Izik, that was a mistake in hindsight. She should’ve asked about Izik a lot more. Lots of things turned out to be mistakes in hindsight when it came to this mission. Izik’s taciturn bodyguard of a bounty hunter that always seemed to be at ex-agent’s side, Ana really should’ve asked about her, but she didn’t and now it was biting her in the ass. Everything about the bounty hunter was too… _Republic_.

The biggest mistake, however, was not asking Lana for specifics about who they were rescuing from Zakuul. It took one mention of Lana hitting Arcann’s prized treasure vault that held prisoners frozen in carbonite for Ana to sign on without a second thought. She really should’ve been more cautious, should’ve asked around more on Zakuul about who was kept on ice. You see her twin Kizi went missing when Zakuul revealed itself to the galaxy. A feat that is especially hard to do considering Kizi, known as Darth Labra, was the Empire’s Wrath. A title Ana secretly shared with her sister though she’s known publicly as Darth Fures. Ana’s not one for titles or clever names, and that became readily apparent in the ensuing war Zakuul started when Ana got word Zakuul might’ve taken her sister. Ana’s rather...enraged actions led to her being named the new Wrath once Acina claimed the throne.

If it was up to her, she would’ve just torn into Zakuul looking for the vault but no! That couldn't happen so it was after much delay, or preparation in Lana’s words, that they put their group to the test. Their little party of seven: two droids, an exiled zakuulian pilot, three significant figures from the Empire, and some sort of republic soldier doing a poor job of hiding that.

The entire stealth part of the mission seemed to be hilariously easy. Seriously, Zakuul had like-no internal security, which baffled Ana because it was harder to sneak out of her childhood home without her Mother finding out in some way than it was sneaking past Zakuul security and into the vault. Sure, Izik’s oddly advanced hologram technology might’ve contributed to it but by the voids, no one stopped them on their way to the vault. Ana was in a state of whimsical disbelief.

Naturally, her whimsy disappeared as they began to thaw the first prisoner and found a kriffing jedi of a togruta, a golden eyed togruta, which Ana soon recognized as Vitiate’s killer. Ana should’ve expected something like this, after all the MIA list she helped put together following Zakuul’s attack had several prominent Republic figures in it. The jedi’s presence would also explain why the little astromech was so insistent about coming though as the second carbonite prisoner arrived at the platform, an oddly familiar disquiet washed over the little group.

Now that had to be Kizi. No other living Sith had such a presence and the only other being that did, has been missing for five years. Five long years that Ana enjoyed the resulting silence from. Of course, as the carbonite melted, and the resulting smoke disappeared; one could hopefully understand Ana’s explosive anger at the person that fell into Lana and Izik’s arms.

 It was clearly **_NOT_** her sister Zûtanokizi’rora. No! It had to be that infuriating ex-smuggler…known largely as Darth Nox in the Empire. Her presence and how she unintentionally crushed Ana’s hopes of finding her sister was an emotional gut punch. It was such an abrupt punch to the gut that Ana barely stopped herself from shouting in anguish and/or breaking something. Instead she might’ve posed a question with a bit of a raised voice.

“What’s she doing here? She should be dead!” Ana said with as much restraint as she could muster considering she lost the only lead she had on her sister. She was deaf to the amount of venom in her voice. If only she was numb to the feeling of her teeth gnashing together.  
  
“…Wuh, little Darth Fures? Is that you? I didn’t think you’d rescue me. Lana, I expected- “Nox’s words were slurred as she got her bearings and waved a hand in front of her face – “Delightful rescue by the way Lana, how’s Setta doing? I hope she’s well considering she was dying, but I definitely didn’t think you’d rope Fures into this rescue.”

Setta must’ve been the name of Vitiate’s killer, the one to the side talking to the droid, though that mattered little to Ana because her sister was still missing and Nox was acting as if she had foreseen the entire rescue. Maybe it had something to do with clashing personalities but that hardly stopped Ana from grabbing Nox by the collar and lifting her to Ana’s face.

“Where is Labra?” Ana hissed out as Nox stared at something in the background, completely nonchalant about being lifted off the ground, likely blind from the unfreezing process too but Ana cared little.

“Oooh scary, threatening a blind woman,” Darth Nox mocked as she raised her non-existent eyebrows in a condescending fashion. “You sure stepped up your game while I took my nap. Bet you got tykes going to bed on time with that anger.”

The snarl Fures admitted was positively voidborn with the way it rattled the walkway they were on.  
“Where. Is. SHE!?”

“Fures, control yourself! We’re on a tight enough schedule as it is.” Lana’s clipped tone slammed its way into Ana’s skull dissipating the anger Nox stoked. Karking little…void-damned smuggler!  She always knew how to press Ana’s buttons and after five long years of rust and disuse they still worked. What joy.

“Fine but we’re having words when we get out of here.” Ana said as she dropped Nox to the ground and stomped her way to the door passing the jedi making her way to Nox. Damn lethans.

“Oh, this is a fantastic wake up.” Nox said as she steadied herself with someone’s help.  
“Hush, Nox”  
“Quiet Vi.” Lana and the Jedi shot at Nox as they all walked towards the exit.  
The faster they got done with this, the sooner Ana could nail Nox to a wall and question her about Kizi’s whereabouts the better.

Ana hoped some skytroopers would appear so she could take out this frustration.

-  
Ana was able to tear through quite a few skytroopers so that was a nice addition to her day.

Unfortunately, the rest of the group’s escape couldn’t go quite as planned because they just had to run into a sealed door. One that Ana couldn’t tear down or cut through because Zakuul liked their security doors to be ten centimeters thick of plasteel and it was positively infuriating now. Also, something about still being on a covert mission and blah blah blah. Point is that despite helping Lana with the door, they couldn’t hold it open long enough for their needs.

Thank the Void there was a computer console nearby that Lana and the Mirilan snapped to after the door proved difficult. Now all Ana had to do was just let her anger simmer, it wouldn’t do to have it explode at the wrong time or pla-

“Get any angrier Fures and anyone listening will know where to find us.” Nox’s childish jab naturally ratcheted Ana’s anger up a few degrees while Ana decided to pace in front of the door doing her best to ignore Nox.  
“Vi…” The jedi murmured in warning besides Nox as her eyes followed Ana back and forth as if studying a predator to see how it would pounce.

“What? It’s not like I know where Labra is. You were the last one to see her during the escape attempt.” Nox muttered to the side, unfortunately it wasn’t the side the Togruta was on. It was the side closest to Ana and it had the effect of just worsening her frustration.

Well it would have frustrated her more if the end remark didn’t send her stomping over to the pair. That caused the bounty hunter to tense and the jedi’s gaze to harden into a glare as she moved to stand between Nox and Ana.

“What escape attempt?” This was news to Ana, and it could nicely explain why that idiot smuggler masquerading as a dark lord was there in carbonite instead of her sister. She also would have stared down Nox if that jedi didn’t take up her entire view when she stepped in between them. A jedi who happened to be just as tall as her two meter form-well a little taller cause of her montrals-but still…it was unusual for Ana to be looking into someone’s eye instead of casting her gaze down.

The peculiarity of such a thing helped to shove Ana’s anger to the side as she waited for an answer.

“Well…? From what the Empire or Republic could gather there was no escape attempt. Just Marr’s flagship doing a suicide rush that resulted in several Zakuulian ships blowing up, which I believe is your handiwork Nox.” Ana said as she leaned to the side to snark at her fellow Darth about the suicide rush, blasted thing just screamed Darth Nox to Ana when she heard about it.

“I was the one behind that,” The jedi replied coolly as she continued to stare Ana down which just rightly baffled Ana, “and as for the escape attempt your sister was the only one to get away after Arcann killed whatshisdust-the old emperor in a new body. What was the nerf herder’s name Vi?”

“Eh, Val…something? Valkaro? No, Valkenan? ...Not that either. Valdiot? It was definitely- Val something- but let me be clear Fures, it was Vitiate’s “new” body. Positively ruined all the trouble dear Setta went through to kill him the first time.” Nox said leaning against the jedi's shoulder, still looking in the wrong direction, acting like the togruta’s arm candy. Honestly if Ana wasn't in mission mode, the sight of them would've fed the artist in her.

“That’s fantastic and all considering the fool was effectively dead to the Empire for decades, but I don’t care. What is this suppo- “  
“Talk later, we need to move now. Vaylin’s here.” Lana said ending the discussion and putting everyone fully into mission mode, especially since their rendezvous had gotten moved.

After getting through the door, through more skytroopers, and making short work of a Zakuulian walker, they found themselves working through a skytrooper factory. Not the best tactical decision but something they were working through, Ana just hoped that if Vaylin caught up to them she’d have room to fight. Fighting unknown opponents in tight quarters was always annoying, especially force users. It’d be even worse since the jedi seemed to be in no shape to fight.

A sentiment that was shortly disproven when some skytroopers landed behind their group and before Ana could turn around, Nox and the jedi had pushed the troopers off the closest edge. Well some fell to their doom, others were apparently thrown into the far wall where they promptly exploded into pieces. From the griping Ana could hear coming from Nox, the jedi was well enough to use the force offensively.

Good for their little group if they ever needed to all fight together.

Ana’s thoughts on the group’s continued survival was rudely shoved aside as the building rocked from a nearby explosion, likely Vaylin’s work. Cutting through a main production floor, and finally escaping the factory, the group was unintentionally given the wonderful news that the nearby sun generator was going critical. It didn’t sound like a good thing beyond hiding their movement but then Koth had to get sentimental pleading with them to save the generator.

“There’s no time.” Lana said brusquely as she walked towards a nearby computer console to make sure they were going in the right direction. Ana agreed with Lana’s assessment and, personally, she didn’t care. Vaylin caused the generator to go critical and they had no real reason to try to stop it, especially with it covering their escape so nicely.

Ana had started to move to the exit when Nox’s voice spoke up causing her to turn around to look at the group.

“Take Setta then Lana, I’ll shut down the generator.” Nox spoke drawing everyone else’s attention to her while Ana’s eyes rolled unseen behind her face mask. Typical Nox always wanting to be side tracked.  
“Not like anyone expects me alive, Setta’s the one people are hoping to be alive.”

Ana did her best to bite her tongue at Nox’s words. If Nox wanted to die playing the hero, then good for her. Ana still had no idea where Kizi was because of Nox and the little empathy Ana might’ve dug up to care wasn’t worth using on Nox.

“We’ll support her and bring up the rear.” Izik said backing up Nox’s death wish and likely receiving a stern look from Lana if Ana had to guess.  
“If things go awry, we’ll fall down to the swamp.”

It was here that Ana stopped caring about the conversation. The way Lana’s stance relaxed signaled that they would split, which is just a joy to entertain. Ana could only hope splitting up would make it easier for their group to escape. If it did, Ana’s day could improve threefold. It would be tenfold if Ana could pick up Kizi’s trail but that was as likely as Nox personally knowing Empress Acina.

-

Ana’s day didn’t improve as much as she hoped after the group split up. As much as Ana was grateful that the little mynock that was Nox had split from their group, the move did little in providing a sufficient distraction for the group’s pursuers. A point she brought up after she tore through a squad of skytroopers, and a point that merely received a shrug in reply as Lana finished healing a wound the jedi reopened during a previous bout of combat. Ana knew the mask she was wearing didn’t allow her annoyance to be seen, but surely Lana could feel it for that response.

“Your attacks waste too much movement.” The jedi remarked as they left the room, causing Ana to grumble. She wasn’t aware she was being graded on her form or she would’ve done better…like brought her other saber so she wasn’t fighting with only one. Despite the many similarities between Ana and her twin, their preferred method of saber combat was something they differed on. Kizi preferred single saber combat and Ana preferred dual sabers. The preference didn’t stop them from being an expert with one or two sabers, but it did bleed into how they fought.  
“Wanna give me your saber so I can stop?” Ana snarked as she continued on her way. Imperials were much more prone to incorporating off hand attacks when they could since ambidexterity was so common in the Empire hence why Juyo and Niman lightsaber forms are common among the Sith.

Coming to a stop in front of a walkway bathed in darkness, Ana turned around to make sure Lana and the jedi were still with her. Imagine Ana’s surprise when she discovered the Jedi offering one of her sabers to Ana. Cocking her head to the side, the Jedi’s gold eyes remained stony as Ana took the saber.

“Take it, you’ll do more with it than I can. Ashla knows I suffer the same problem when using a single saber.” _That_ answer surprised Ana so much that it put a momentary pin in her frustration. From what she knew about Jedi, they didn’t really encourage learning multiple weapons or fighting styles…things must be different for their battlemasters. Meeting Lana’s eyes, Ana nodded in thanks before turning around and continuing.  
“Perhaps we should spar once we’re safe.”

The chuckle she heard from Lana was indication enough that Ana’s offer was heard. It’d be up to the jedi to follow through.  Continuing through the walkways proved little challenge, what with the skytroopers’ habit of landing near the rails allowing Lana and the jedi to push them off as soon as they appeared while Ana quickly tore through those that didn’t fall to their destruction. It was after one such fight that Koth messaged them again about another setback in their pick.

Really all Ana could do was sigh at this point. Zakuul sucked, and the more time she spent here the more it became apparent. Turning to Lana for direction, they were soon on their way to the new pick up point. The only saving grace to this change was the fact that it was so close. Upon reaching it, the group was left to their own devices as they waited for Koth and/or Nox’s group to rejoin theirs.

A minute had barely passed when Izik called Lana to let them know they had to fall down to avoid running into Vaylin, an understandable move and one which Izik revealed led to their group hijacking a speeder that they could use to escape to the swamp. A swamp they’d hide in until Lana and Koth picked them up. Plan back on something of a schedule, Ana decided it was time to ask an important question.

“Jedi…as Nox was kind enough to inform me before we split up; you were the last person to see Darth Labra, what happened to her?” Ana said with a no-nonsense tone fully in place as she round on the woman to look her in the eye, she was going to get…something that would hopefully lead to her sister.

“She escaped the massive tower on this planet as far as I’m aware. After Vitiate’s death we were surrounded but thanks to…Nox’s quick thinking a hasty plan was formed.” The Jedi answered in their rather iconic monotone; honestly Ana wasn’t sure how that _wasn’t_ unsettling.  
“It was as Arcann stabbed me that V-Nox took out the skytroopers and guards drawing his ire, which allowed Labra and I to get to the elevator. After getting into the building part of the tower, we had the hassle of fighting our way out.”

This was news to not just Ana but Lana as well. There was absolutely nothing about an escape attempt or a Sith coming from wild space in the five years since Zakuul arrived which meant…Kizi might still be on Zakuul. Somewhere, Ana knew she wasn’t dead. She could still faintly feel her sister through their force bond but despite spending a fortnight on this wretched planet she hadn’t seen or heard anything regarding a red-skinned or darkly armored force wielder.

“Vaylin showed up sometime during our escape. Labra and I put up a valiant effort but ultimately, I chose to push Labra towards the exit while acquiring Vaylin’s attention. I imagine that Labra got back to imperial space sometime within the year we were captured.” The jedi said plain as day not realizing the hope, she was feeding Ana.

“Mistress Vel…Darth Labra never returned to Imperial space.” Lana revealed, trying to get to the bottom of things while Ana tried to beat her hope back under a mental rock. It wouldn’t do for it to infect her again.

“Ah…well then, she’s likely still on Zakuul. Sith know how to go to ground right?” The Jedi said with the slightly undercurrent of curiosity, likely not being aware that some Sith do know how to hide. Unfortunately, further questioning was put on hold as blaster fire was heard over the coms and Koth proceeded to tell them that he might be a bit late. To make matters even worse, some Zakuul knights jumped in front of them to try and arrest them shortly after the message ended.

A fool thing to do in Ana’s mind and she was gearing up to charge at them while they monologued when the jedi surprised her once more. It was the way the jedi used force crush as a surprise attack, allowing Ana to close the distance unhindered. The knights proved little challenge and as one tried to get away, the jedi showed off her proficiency of force crush once more by obliterating one of the runner’s legs. A move Ana didn’t miss but Lana likely did as she began to choke the life out of the remaining one.

“Lana”  
“Lana”

Ana and the Jedi said at the same time before Lana finished off the knight. A move that allowed them to realize the platform they were on was falling apart for some reason. Ana’s quite sure their escape wasn’t that destructive and despite her feelings about Nox, Ana could admit the mynock was…competent. The answer appeared as the walkway they're on began to fall apart in front of their eyes. Turning back to the way they came, they came face to face with the cause. It was Vaylin.

Apparently, she caught up.

“You, I don’t know you…” Vaylin’s voice was decidedly coy as she looked at Lana before drifting her gaze to the Jedi and Ana. A move that caused her gaze to harden considerably, “but you two, I know. Finally done hiding in the swamp?”

That…was just the thing Ana needed to hear for her hope to infect her again as she took up guard in front of the jedi alongside Lana. A fierce standoff was going to happen and if Ana got answers to where Labra was hiding even better.

…Of course, that would’ve happened if Koth didn’t show up in the ship and distracted Vaylin with its guns. A smart move, shame Vaylin damaged part of the ship after they got on board.

Hopefully, the damage wasn’t bad enough to keep them planet bound

-  
It was worse.  
The damage was so much worse.

After crash landing in the ‘Endless’ swamp, likely the one Nox planned on hiding in while waiting for pick up, Ana and the jedi were sent to scout out something HK’s sensors picked up. A metallic vessel of some kind, Ana didn’t much care beyond the fact that it could likely serve as a makeshift shelter. One her sister might be hiding in though she was doing her best to dampen that hope. Zakuul’s swamp was apparently vast and maybe endless, so Kizi likely wouldn’t be in the first thing they search. It’d likely require a network of probe droids if Ana were thinking about it properly as she followed HK.

Either way, they eventually came upon part of a ship that was several centuries old and a little way off was the ship itself, though something was off about it. There was evidence of something using it or had used it recently, more than just the signs normally associated with creatures. After all, animals don’t really have need for a fire pit.

Telling HK to hold off on calling their comrades, Ana and the jedi set about slowly exploring the ship trying to see if the squatter was around. They had just entered a living quarter area when the unmistakable sound of a lightsaber being turned on alerted them to the squatter.

A squatter who had thrown the jedi across the room and whose crimson blade nearly took Ana’s left arm off if she didn’t raise her own in defense. Staring at her attacker, Ana met the gaze of an Eradicator mask staring back at her. The same mask she was currently wearing along with similar armor and robes. Apparently, something caused her attacker to relent because they pushed Ana away to give themselves room. Room for…!

“Vel, stop!” Ana shouted to the jedi who was getting ready to attack, and Ana was beyond thankful she shouted because the attacker soon turned off their saber. Turning to the jedi, their attacker tossed their saber aside before reaching up to take off their mask.

Ana watched them with veiled hope as, at first, the mask was tossed to the ground before the attacker’s hood was removed revealing Ana’s own face, ridges and all. The sound of Ana’s saber turning off cemented reality in her mind

Reacting on instinct, Ana rushed to her double and pulled the pureblood woman into a fierce hug that would’ve crushed a human.

_“Do you have any idea how worried I was!?”  
“I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long little sun.”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta reader and Happy Revenge of the Fifth  
> So we kinda found out what happened at Vitiate's death. He's gotta be lurking in one of them doing his gloating shtick that no one buys.  
> I know I didn't make it terrible obvious til the end, but the armor and helmet Ana's wearing throughout the chapter is the bog-standard Eradicator armor and mask.  
> Also yeah, I kinda jumped around in the timeline since this takes place before Acina and Nox's not-date that was chapter one.  
> Oh yeah a big one. I find it a touch ridiculous that the game hasn't implied the pc jedi/sith melee class knows how to fight with a single saber, two, or a saberstaff. Just that marauder or juggernaut indicates their favored style.  
> Oh minor thing too; Novo, the knight that gets away in chap 3 of KOTFE, he bleeds out and dies in this from Setta crushing one of his legs into smithereens. Something about shock kinda rendering him inert and/or knocking him unconsciousness on the catwalk after jumping away.  
> All that said, it looks like I'm adding to this. I'll likely add more when new ideas come to me so until then:  
> May the force serve you well.


End file.
